mp112849

The problem is that I do not have computer/amp bi-directional communication via midi. I've tried the MIO usb interface and the M-Audio MIDISport UNO usb interface and neither of those work. MIDI out of computer to MIDI in of amp work OK... I think, since I see activity on the UNO Out LED, but I see nothing on the In LED. I'm pretty much arriving at several conclusions: Since I keep seeing MS GS Wavetable synth device in windows 7 64 bit control panel there may be a windows issue The MIDI out port on the flextone may be malfunctioning, but I have no way to test that. One thing I did was check to see the amp and cab combinations for the Blackface Lux. If I'm reading the manual in the cabinets section correctly, the combination of Blackface Lux and Jazz Clean should be the right thing. When I initially checked, it was mapped to the '53 Celestion Blue Bell. What I'm not sure of is whether the mapping should be Blackface Lux -> Fender '63 Vibroverb. So I believe I have the amp/cab setup correct now, unless someone can tell me different. I'd like to know if there's some diagnostic I can perform to test the midi ports on the flextone.

Sorry about the double topic post. I was hoping I could delete one of these.

Is there a way to restore the factory model settings to their original values and without affecting the currently saved presets under the A, B, C, D buttons? For the most part, all but one of the amp/cab models is fine. However, there's just no way the Blackface Lux can be right. It's very thin and the level is much lower than other similar amp/cab settings. I suspect that the previous owner had somehow modified and saved this... if that's possible. Hope that's the case and that I can get it back to something more reasonable.

Thanks a lot for the info. I'll get the UNO and see what happens. Only reason I got the MIO was that it was available at guitar center. They used to sell the M-Audio UNO but switched to the MIO. Probably a better profit margin on the MIO. They sell it for the same price as the UNO. Just one more thing. Regarding the firmware version indicator of the flextone 3. As I mentioned before, holding the "B" button while powering up should show the current version of firmware with a sequence of blinking LEDS on the channel select buttons. What should the correct sequence of LED flashes be to indicate v1.1 firmware? I thought maybe there would be: "B" button one blink, then "C" button one blink. The sequence I get is still as if firmware version 1.02 were resident.. I.E, "B" button one blink, then "D" button two blinks.

OK, RealZap, that makes sense. Is it possible, just on the amp, to modify and save the volume level of the preset so that its saved volume level is at the MAX level while the channel volume control is at the MAX position? I'm hoping that then when I back off the channel volume, there will be a linear reduction in volume without the spike at the "8" position. The thing that puzzles me is why does this happen at the "8" position to begin with? Why not as soon as you start manipulating the volume knob? Regarding the issue with not having bi-directional communication between the amp and the computer via the midi ports, do you have any info regarding this? I did not fully explain the situation, so let me try. I spent a considerable amount of time trying to get get both Monkey and Line 6 Edit to work. I kept getting the message about "midi cables not connected, etc, etc", so I assumed there was no connection at all between amp and computer. As a last resort, I decided to try to flash the firmware anyway just to see. Upon doing that with Monkey, I saw that all the LEDs on the top amp panel lit up and Monkey actually showed a progress bar that was updating itself. When that finished, Monkey presented a dialog that said the firmware update was successful and to power down then power up the amp. That surprised me! So if I can trust this, it answers a question regarding the amp and computer actually being connected. It seems that there's a one-way connection and the computer is able to send a MIDI message to the amp and apparently the amp is able to receive the message. However, either the MIDI out port on the amp is malfunctioning or the MIDI in of the computer is malfunctioning (or both of those are malfunctioning)... or the midi cable is defective. I'm using an MIO USB to MIDI cable that's similar to the M-Audio UNO, Initially, I could not find a way to get Win7 to recognize the MIO MIDI output. I found a software MIDI mapper that at least allowed the computer to expose the MIO MIDI out device. At first windows would only expose the Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth, but using the mapper software, I could then select the MIO as my MIDI output device. Anyway, the real reasons for wanting access to the amp via computer MIDI interface were (1) use Line 6 Edit to rectify the volume issue and (2) update the amp firmware. I've read somewhere (probably on this forum) the the preferred MIDI interface is the M-Audio UNO. Would using that interface make the whole process work? Is it really as simple as that?

Here's another interesting problem I'd like to get solved. When selecting any preset from the A/B/C/D buttons, the volume is at level X (and let's just assume that since the channel volume knob is at MAX, it is theoretically at a maximum value of "10"). If I back down the volume know from it's max pinned position, at about what would be the "8", the volume makes a jump up to a louder level. That can be something less than the original start value. When I got the Flextone III, the firmware was at v1.02. I used Monkey to update the firmware to v1.1, but that did not affect the condition. What compounds this is the fact that I cannot a bi-directional communication via USB/Midi to my computer, so I really have no way of knowing if the firmware re-flash actually worked. Using the manual method of determining the firmware version, before the re-flash, powering up while holding the "B" button, the "B" button LED flashed once and the "D" button LED flashed twice. This told me the firmware version was v1.02. I then used Monkey to reflash. Monkey said the reflash was successful, but since the computer could not communicate from the amp midi out to the computer midi in, Monkey could not get the firmware version. So I repeated the manual method and saw the same LED flashing sequence as when I started with v1.02. Any ideas on any of this? Let me know if anyone needs more info.

Based on the comment above, I have a question regarding line 6 monkey. I've been trying to help a friend solve an issue with different patches having different volume levels. He said that someone suggested reflasing the firmware, which sounds reasonable, but the issue here is that when I install monkey, during the install process, the software asks what device will be connected and the Flextone III is not listed. What could be the issue? Does the Flextone III have to be connected during the software installation process? Also, based on another response in this thread, "But, you can adjust the volume of each amp separately, and save them one by one with your personal configurations. To do the saving, simply press the model knob for 4-5 seconds, until the led of the knob from fixed go to flashing and again to fixed. Repeat the process to each amp separately." This kind of makes sense, but will it work?